Flashback Friday

 Back to the 80's this week to take a look at the group NewSong. NewSong is an American contemporary Christian music group that was founded in 1981, at Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia. They have had twelve GMA Dove Award nominations, and one Grammy Award Nomination. The original four members included the current members Eddie Carswell, Billy Goodwin, and former members Eddie Middleton and Bobby Apon.

NewSong recorded three custom albums independently. In 1982, they signed on with Covenant Records, and released The Son In My Eyes the next year. In 1984, they signed a contract with Canaan Records, a branch of CCM label giant Word Records and released The Word. NewSong continued to stay with Word Records until 1991 when they signed on with DaySpring Records. The next year they released One Heart At A Time, The Best of NewSong, which featured 12 hits from their previous albums. In 1993, they joined up with the Benson Music Group and released All Around The World, which brought four No. 1 hits. I think my favorite off this album is the title track "All Around The World"...

In 1994 NewSong released People Get Ready which also brought four No. 1 hits, and featured a re-recorded version of "Arise My Love", which was first recorded by the original group in 1987.

In May 1999, they released Arise, My Love, The Very Best of NewSong. This featured 12 of their previous No. 1 hits. It also included two new songs which became No. 1 hits, "Jesus To The World (Roaring Lambs)" and another personal favorite, "Can’t Keep A Good Man Down"... 

Leading up to 2000, NewSong caught the attention of popular radio personality, DC Daniel (then, of "Steve & DC") and began collaborating on production ideas for future projects. The partnership led to the most successful period of NewSong's career as they released the album Sheltering Tree, in late 2000. DC, Eddie Carswell and Leonard Ahlstrom penned the bonus track "The Christmas Shoes" for Sheltering Tree, which became a No. 1 mainstream radio hit in a Billboard chart-record 3 weeks, topping Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart. 

This is the most recognizable song from NewSong and spurred a best selling book and was later made into a TV movie  that was the second highest-rated TV movie of the 2002–2003 seasons.  

In 2003 a second bestseller based on the song was released and and was later made into a TV movie by CBS. It was the most watched TV movie in 2005, and had an appearance by NewSong, which showed them singing their holiday single "The Christmas Blessing". NewSong also received a Dove Award for Musical of the Year for The Christmas Shoes Musical.

In November 2004, NewSong recorded their live worship album and DVD, Rescue: Live Worship at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, which is the home church for several members in the band. The album was released in May 2005, and the DVD of the concert came out in September. Also in 2005, NewSong was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

NewSong continues to perform and release new albums. You can catch up with their current activities on their website at http://www.newsongonline.com/.